At Washington State University in Pullman, Clinical Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture, Steve Austin, had his students work with the Pullman Downtown Association to design suggestions aimed at improving the future of the town.

The project was dubbed "Pullman Vital Signs," and tasked students with gathering information on downtown land use, design, and environmental aspects such as heat and noise. After gathering information, the students proposed designs that they thought would help ease future problems like transportation and safety.

Students presented their ideas to the public at the Pullman Depot Heritage Center situated in the downtown area. Resultantly, they gained real-world experience by addressing actual problems and talking with interested members of the community.

Professor Austin told the WSU Insider, "We take the issue and build images and descriptions of those, then share those with the community and WSU. It's a fun way to show people what we can do in the future and can interest people in discussions about what else can be possible."

One of the students of the project, Jessie Conner, states that he is very proud of his design and that "its quality is due to the instruction at WSU."